RV-12 canopy lift handle location

[BobbyLucas]

Has anyone placed the lift handle further aft than shown in the plans for more leverage? Is there any reason not to?

[Piper J3]

I imagine standing at the wing leading edge with lift handle positioned more aft would be a longer reach and defeat the purpose. Factory design works quite well...

[BobbyLucas]

But Jim, my wings aren't on at the moment!

Good point. We'll try a few different positions and see what feels best I guess. Hard to get nice grip with two clecos in the way though.

[HansLab]

please, do read the article in Experimental Airplanes Magazine some time ago of a bloke that un-purposely mounted the canopy handle backwards: it opened in flight!.
Handle position works pretty well in factory design. One does need to push the handle over the nylon threshold, though. Which can be problematic because it is so to say a bit out of reach. I attached a switch with an idiot-light in the panel for that reason, just to be sure it's closed.

[BobbyLucas]

Originally Posted by HansLab

please, do read the article in Experimental Airplanes Magazine some time ago of a bloke that un-purposely mounted the canopy handle backwards: it opened in flight!.
Handle position works pretty well in factory design. One does need to push the handle over the nylon threshold, though. Which can be problematic because it is so to say a bit out of reach. I attached a switch with an idiot-light in the panel for that reason, just to be sure it's closed.

Lift handles, not latch handle. The tiny little tabs on either side of the bubble for lifting the canopy from outside. Also, the latch design has improved over the version in that article.

[N8DAV8R]

Originally Posted by BobbyLucas

But Jim, my wings aren't on at the moment!

Good point. We'll try a few different positions and see what feels best I guess. Hard to get nice grip with two clecos in the way though.

I was thinking about those handles a bit yesterday, I'm at the point where we are basically done with everything on the interior and the canopy/window details. There has been a ton of opening and closing getting everything "just right". Two thoughts on the handles were that they work but put also do tweak the canopy a little bit more than I like due to force on one side...but also that they probably won't get used much once the plane it together. Looking at where the top of the wing will be, it would almost be like reaching down to your toes when closed. Seems like most of the time the center latch with be the convenient way to operate the canopy. I hope this is the case.

[BobbyLucas]

Sounds like we are at the same point. I'm just going with the stock location. I tried different locations and it didn't seem to have much effect when taking the wings into consideration. The only reason I even considered moving them aft was because the wings were out-of-sight and out-of-mind.